The Trench
by Joshua7123
Summary: Alpha-53, better known as Trench, was a Advanced Recon Commando (ARC) Captain during the Clone Wars but deserted after Order 66 was activated. He escaped to Cantonica in a stolen Republic Gunship and became a bounty hunter. This is his story.
1. Prologue

"Two more," barked Trench, his elbows resting on the bar with his head in his hands. His short, black hair allowed his white scalp to be almost visible to the bartender as he set down two glasses and poured a light brown colored liquid into each glass.

"Tough contract again, Trench?" inquired the bartender as he placed his hands on the bar and leaned forward. His eyes were set on Trench, who kept his head down facing the bar.

"You would think you'd stop feeling emotions in this job, but you don't," Trench replied, raising his head to face the bartender. His hazel eyes met the bartender's, like he was trying to stare into his soul. Without breaking eye contact, Trench reached for one of the glasses in front of him. Finally breaking eye contact, he closed his eyes and tilted his head back. Raising the glass to his lips, he tilted the glass and downed all the liquid in the glass.

"You're a human, humans feel emotions too," replied the bartender. Trench lowered his empty glass and placed it down on the table, opening his eyes and returning his head to facing the bartender. He raised his hand and wiped his lips with the back of his hand. "Say, don't you have someone at home to return to? It's gettin' pretty late, ya' think?" the bartender spoke with a curious look on his face.

"Ferdev, I come here to relax and drink my sorrows, not to be questioned on my life choices," answered Trench, reaching for the other glass and swilled down the drink. He placed his glass back down, looking around the bar room at the others in the room. "All of these people here and yet they act like nothing's wrong in the world."

"Perhaps you have them all wrong, Trench. Maybe they're here for the same reason you are, get their minds off of what's going on and just live life," the bartender shot back. Trench brought his head back around to face the bartender.

"Hey bartender! Down here!" came from down the bar, and the bartender looked down to where the voice came from.

"That's my queue. Anyways, Trench, have a good one," said the bartender, turning away from Trench and walking down the bar, sliding his hand down the bar. Trench's eyes followed the bartender down, though moved his eyes back down to the empty glasses in front of him. He grabbed one of them and placed it in the other. He rotated himself around the stool, facing opposite to the bar, and then standing up. He looked around the room once again, making his way towards the exit of the room: An arched doorway with a light hanging down from the center of the doorway.

He stopped himself after he stepped outside of the bar, in front of him a smoothed sandstone road leading throughout the entire city, which was the city of Canto Bight on the planet of Cantonica. It was late at night like the bartender said, perhaps midnight. There was very little traffic on the road at the moment, though it was the opposite during the day. Off in the distance Trench could see bright, exotic lights coming from the city's casino, which was always busy and visited by many of the galaxy's rich for gambling and shopping. The city itself was an attraction for the galaxy's rich, hence why Trench was there. Though it wasn't because he was rich. It was because of his job. He was a bounty hunter.

Trench's past wasn't the same old story that the rest of the bounty hunters had. Where most of them grew up in a criminal lifestyle and went directly into the bounty hunting occupation because it was the only thing they had, Trench was quite the opposite. He was originally the result of the breeding done by the Kaminoans and was part of the alpha-class Advanced Recon Commandos (ARC) being developed on the planet of Kamino. During his training under Jango Fett, he excelled and performed better than others that were also developed in the alpha-class. His first time in action was during the First Battle of Kamino, where he led a small squad of ARC troopers through the enemy lines and helped prevent droid forces from further entering the city. It was after this battle that Trench was immediately promoted to the rank of ARC Captain.

For the remainder of the Clone Wars, Trench displayed his expert marksmanship with the DC-15x sniper rifle during several independent missions, being tasked with providing support for clone troopers. He was given the nickname 'Trench' due to causing hell for the trenches. Though he began to read in his downtime, learning more about the current state of government. It was close to the end of the war that Trench began to develop a dislike for Palpatine. When Order 66 was sent out, Trench, due to being developed with the ability to think for himself and question orders, disobeyed the order and abandoned his post as an ARC Captain. He stole a Republic Space Gunship shortly after the order was sent out, and flew to the planet of Cantonica.

Still wearing his ARC Captain armor, which had red to signal his rank, and still carrying his DC-15x sniper rifle, he couldn't travel within the city due to having to avoid being seen at all cost. So he parked his ship on the side of a mountain, the opposite side of the city of Canto Bight. He had camped out inside of the ship for close to a year, only going into the city when he needed food. The first time, he had pretended to still be serving though had yet to be given a new uniform. He then got new clothing so he could blend in with the rest of society. Though he had entered the life of a bounty hunter after a night in the bar and speaking with one about how much money it could bring in. And due to his prior experience in combat, which he had kept a secret, and his marksmanship, he had decided it could be profitable.

Altering his ARC Captain armor and painting a majority of it red, he wore it on his bounty hunting contracts. He continued to use the name Trench and still used his DC-15x sniper rifle, though was finally making money. He still lived in the Republic Space Gunship, though stripped it of some of it's parts and painted the red parts of the ship to black. Though his story continues now…


	2. Chapter 1

"500 credits. That's the price," Trench said with sternness in his voice. He sat in a booth at the bar he was a regular at. His arms resting on the table, his fingers interlocked. Across from him sat a dark-skinned man. He was bald on the top of his head and he had brown eyes, staring into Trench's. He wore an orange, long-sleeved shirt with a black vest with no sleeves over it.

"You're not the only bounty hunter in Canto, you know this? I can get another-" though before he could finish his sentence, Trench cut him off.

"Then go to them. Go play them with your desperate ass, I don't have time for this," Trench answered. He unlinked his fingers and began to slide out of the booth, though the man grabbed his arm before he could leave.

"Fine, 500 credits," the man finally fell into Trench's price. Trench grinned, returning to facing the man. It was as if he had planned it, which he did.

"Good. Now, I have my own equipment though I need to know a location as to where we are going to meet," Trench said, it was time for business. He looked around the room, checking to see if anyone was watching them or listening.

"The piazza. We meet at noon, and then make our way to the casino from there. I don't expect anyone to make any attempts on my life, though I am not sure during this time. Especially the empire, they and I aren't the fondest of each other," replied the man. He shook his head, rubbing his hands together.

"Alright. You pay half now and half after it's complete," Trench ordered, using the tactic as insurance. It was very common among bounty hunters, and it kept him from being scammed.

"You're a difficult man to do business with, I hope you know," the man replied, reaching into his pockets and setting down a small pouch. Trench grabbed the pouch and brought it up to his face, shaking it.

"Last I checked, you're the one who came to me," Trench replied with. He pushed the pouch of credits into his pocket. Placing his hands on the seat, sliding his way out of the booth and standing up tall outside of the booth. The man did the same, standing up but was a bit shorter than Trench. His pants were a tan color with pockets lining the side. The man nodded, reaching his hand out to Trench.

"Thank you, I will see you tomorrow," the man said. Trench folded his arms and nodded to the man, who then started towards the doorway. Trench looked towards the bar as his customer had left, though decided not to begin drinking just yet as it was still only eleven in the morning. So Trench too started for the exit, stepping outside. The road was full of traffic, people walking up and down on their way to their own destinations. Trench stepped onto the road, moving up the road. As he was about to turn the corner, behind him came a shout.

"Trench!"

Trench stopped and turned around, seeing the bartender, Ferdev. He seemed frantic and panicking, so Trench began to jog towards him. After finally reaching Ferdev, Trench spoke, "What's wrong, Ferdev? And what did we say about yelling my name."

"Trench, you need to get out of here," Ferdev said, still frantic, "There were troopers, they came lookin' for you. You need to leave." Trench's eyes opened wide, folding his arms."Ferdev, I just left your bar. There were no stormtroopers," Trench responded, confusion filled his face. Though the bartender still was frantic.

"They came through the back, probably were staying low," Ferdev replied. Trench stood there with his arms crossed, debating whether or not he should believe the bartender. They had first met when Trench decided to travel into Canto Bight for the first time, Ferdev provided him with some food as well as a drink. Though sometimes Trench found Ferdev to be a bit annoying and was always trying to get into his business, though he was also helpful other times. Ferdev was probably the closest thing Trench had to a sidekick, or a friend even.

"Alright, I should be heading home then," Trench replied. Hesitantly, Trench turned around to make his way back to his ship. Though Ferdev put his hand on his shoulder to prevent him from walking away. Spinning him around with all his might, Trench faced him once again.

"No, they'll probably be headin' there next. You can come stay with me in my room upstairs," Ferdev added, offering Trench a place to stay. Trench had no idea that the bartender had lived upstairs, though he never paid much attention anyways.

"I don't know, Ferdev. I don't want to put you in harm's way. I'm sure they have the wrong-" though before Trench could finish his statement, a blaster laser went over Trench's head. Pushing Ferdev to the ground, he saw in the distance four stormtroopers with their blasters aimed at them. Following the blaster laser were several more, and Trench had to run. Sprinting across the road, Trench ran into an alley located across from the bar. The alley was narrow and couldn't fit more than one person across.

Trench heard multiple more blaster shots, seeing some of them go right over his head. Shouts of innocent bystanders watching the chase filled the air as blaster lasers flew over them. After finally reaching another road, Trench took a sharp right. Running through large crowds, more blaster lasers followed him. The screams continued, though he tried to tune them out. Focusing on the road before him, he pushed to the side anyone that stood in his way. Though suddenly, Trench felt a sharp pain in his calf and collapsed to the ground in front of him.

"Stay down, scum," ordered a voice from behind Trench. His chest rested on the ground, his face dug into the sand. The same voice barked, "You're not running away this time."

Trench felt metal wrap around his wrist, weighing his wrists down to his back due to the metal's heaviness. Without notice, Trench was picked up off of the ground and placed on his feet. Spun around, he faced the four stormtroopers that had been shooting at him previously. They stood in a line, blasters in hand. He looked them up and down, the armor had looked different compared to the armor that Trench had worn while in service to the Republic. One of them spoke, "You are being detained for desertion from the Galactic Empire, Alpha-53."

Trench looked around, noticing a crowd surrounding them. All of them had shocked looks on their faces, seeing what was unfolding in front of them. Though Trench returned his eyes to the stormtroopers in front of him, trying to think of a way out of this situation. The sun had beat hard down upon them, causing Trench to break a sweat. Trench replied in a relaxed voice, "Gentlemen, I believe you have the wrong guy."

"Shut it, deserter. We found the stolen ship outside of the city," said one of the stormtroopers in a monotone voice, the helmet displaying no emotion to the detained Trench. Trench looked down at the ground, finally beginning to feel the pain after the adrenaline was lowering. The side of his calf had been grazed by a blaster laser, which was most likely the case of the sharp pain he had felt which led him to fall down. Knowing he had no hope of escaping, Trench simply returned his eyes to the stormtroopers.

Though out of nowhere, a blaster laser shot down from one of the roof tops and passed through the stormtrooper furthest to the right. The trooper collapsed to the ground, and panic ensued amongst the crowd around them. Everyone began running in opposite directions, causing a distraction for Trench. Though instead of running, Trench threw himself to the ground and pried the blaster from the dead stormtrooper's hands, his hands still cuffed in the metal braces that had been placed on him. Turning the blaster to the stormtroopers above him, he pulled the trigger and sprayed the three of them.

Looking up to the roof tops, he saw a glimpse of a hooded figure who quickly disappeared from view. Now undetained, Trench quickly made the decision to sprint back to the ship. He had to leave the city, nonetheless the planet, before being caught and sent to the empire. So Trench, wrists still trapped and blaster still in hand, sprinted up the smoothed sandstone path towards the edge of the city. He had to make his exit before it was too late…


	3. Chapter 2

Trench had been hiking across the mountain as he always had, though this time he paused and looked back at the city behind him. It was Canto Bight, which had served as his home and source of contracts for the past year. He could make out the bar he had been spending most of his nights at, but then thought about Ferdev. When would he see him again? And then he thought about the figure he had seen, the hooded figure on the rooftop. Was he the one to fire the blaster? There were so many questions that Trench had that he wouldn't be able to get the answers to due to having to leave the city.

Turning his back to Canto Bight, he started back through the mountain pass that would lead him directly to the gunship he had been living in. There were cacti all throughout the path, Trench making sure to avoid touching them. As he looked above at the mountains on both sides of him, he noticed the markings on them. As if someone had climbed up and began drawing on the mountainside. Though he had to return his focus to in front of him, he didn't want to be caught off guard. Making his way through the mountain pass, he started to make out the space gunship in the distance.

Coming closer, he could see that the side door was open to the gunship. Which was no surprise seeing as how the stormtroopers had already alerted him of how they found the ship outside of the city. Though he had believed they would have the littlest bit decency to shut the door behind them. As he drew closer to the ship, he had begun to feel less at ease. It was like someone was watching him from afar. A few steps before reaching the gunship, he turned around and looked at the mountains and landscape. There was no sign of anyone there, though Trench still felt as if he was being watched. Turning back around to the gunship, he stepped up to the sliding door that had been opened, revealing the inside.

Stepping inside, Trench grinned. The inside of it was bland with seats lining the walls in the middle of the ship, and then the cockpit at the front. Though he had to get these wrist holders off, so he set down the blaster he had acquired onto the seat, and then placed in the middle of the two wrist holders in front of the ship's wall. Pushing forward with all his might, he still couldn't get them off. Looking at the blaster and thinking for a moment, he then decided it was his only hope. Grabbing the blaster, he tilted it at an angle to where the barrel faced the wrist holder though away from Trench's body. Pulling the trigger, a laser cut right through the holders and they fell down onto the ground below Trench. He placed the blaster back down onto the seat, finally free.

On the ground between the seats were several open cans that Trench had been eating from, as well as the modified ARC trooper armor he had been wearing on contracts. Though as looked around, he began to panic. His sniper rifle was nowhere to be seen, but he had never spotted the stormtroopers holding it. He walked up to the cockpit, hoping to have misplaced it. But there was nothing there besides the controls and seats to man the ship. Turning around, he got on his knees and checked under the seats on the walls.

"Alpha-53, codenamed Trench. Advanced Recon Commando Captain, expert marksman. Deserted after the clones killed all the Jedi. I know who you are," said a voice from behind Trench. Almost immediately, Trench jumped up and spun around. There stood a teenage boy, maybe thirteen. He had a brown cloak with a hood, the same hood that the figure on the rooftop was wearing. Though Trench didn't care about that at first, instead it was the DC-15x sniper rifle that the boy was holding.

"How do you know who I am?" asked Trench, looking the boy up and down. He was wearing knee pads and shin guards on his tan-colored pants. The brown cloak had gone down to his knees, covering the boy's upper garments.

"Word spreads fast in the resistance, especially when it's about a deserter-turned-bounty hunter. Say, where can I get one of these?" the boy asked, taking a feel for the rifle as if he was seeing how heavy it was. Though Trench was confused after he had heard the boy say resistance.

"Resistance? What resistance," returned Trench, a confused look painted over his face. The boy grinned and looked back up to Trench from the rifle.

"Wow, you're dumber than I thought. The resistance against the Empire, y'know. There's like twenty of us here in Canto Bight," answered the boy. He set the butt of the gun on the ground, holding it by the barrel.

"They're doin' a shit job seeing as how stormtrooper numbers have been increasing over the past few months," shot back Trench, "Now, give me back the rifle before you hurt yourself."

"If it weren't for the resistance, you'd be in imperial custody right now. And I think I may just keep this as a souvenir," replied the boy, a grin on his face to make Trench even angrier. It was working and the anger was boiling inside of Trench. He was tempted to raise his fist to the boy, though he had decided it best not. Perhaps the boy can lead him to this "resistance" he was talking about.

"Listen, kid, I've got to get out of here in order to avoid the empire-" but like always, Trench was cut off before he could finish.

"Are you stupid! If you fly out of this planet, an entire imperial fleet will be there waiting for you. We lost a few of our best pilots to it," the boy said, his grin disappearing and he looked down at the ground. Trench could sense the boy had gotten upset after speaking about the tragedy of their pilots.

"Well, then you can help me. Bring me back to the leader of your resistance," Trench ordered, hoping he could get in touch with a pilot who could fly him out of here and past the fleet.

"And why should I?" the boy responded with, looking back up to Trench.

"Because if you guys help me, I'll help you. You know my background, you know what I can do," answered Trench. He had always thrown around the idea of whether or not to join the resistance and join the fight against the empire. It wouldn't pay as well as a bounty hunter, nor would it pay at all, but it would give him the chance to fight against the evil that controlled him all those years.

The boy thought for a minute, looking beyond Trench at his gear on the ground. "That your's?"

"Yeah, modified my ARC trooper armor. Been usin' it on contracts," Trench replied, looking at the armor as well. It was a true piece of art, and Trench felt powerful every time he put it on.

"Sick," the boy said, grinning. After another minute of silence between the two, the boy picked up the rifle and held it with both hands. He held it away from him, towards Trench. Without saying anything, Trench raised his hands and picked up the rifle out of the boy's hands. "Alright, I'll bring you to her."

"Alright, let me put on my gear. Got nothing to lose now that I'm not trying to conceal that I'm here," said Trench, turning away from the boy and setting his rifle down on the seat next to him. There were several parts of the armor. First there was the gray bodysuit that he had worn under the rest of his armor. Next there was the red armor that covered the torso and arms. It was the basic chest piece that had been supplied when he was serving in the republic. The entire piece was red besides the white galactic republic symbol in the upper right corner of the chestplate. Next was his red leg plates that covered his thighs, knees, and shins. Around his leg plates was a black kama with a red outline, the only thing he hadn't modified. Covering his feet were red metal boots that connected to his leg plates. Finally were his black gloves that he would slip on after putting everything else on.

The boy had waited outside the ship as Trench changed into his armor. Though inside, Trench was just putting on his gloves. The red armor had done him well in all of his contracts, and he trusted it to do him well with whatever came next. After slipping on his gloves, he leaned over and grabbed his rifle up off the seat. Looking around, he began to think back to past memories he had with the ship and the times when he'd come back after a long and difficult contract, and just lay down. This may be the last time he'd ever see the ship again. Though he had decided it was time.

Trench stepped outside of the ship and the boy was leaning against the ship. The boy looked towards him, and grinned. "What's your name, kid?"

"I'm Hugo, but my friends call me Runner," said the boy, pushing himself off of the ship to stop leaning on it. Trench reached his hand out to the teen boy to offer a handshake, and Hugo met his hand with a handshake. The two nodded and Hugo led Trench off towards the mountain pass, on their way to meet the Cantonica Resistance leader.


	4. Chapter 3

"They really like to keep this low, don't they," said Trench, as he followed behind Hugo. They were inside of a sewer, walking through disgusting sewage that had covered the bottom of the sewer. Trench had been in disgusting things before, but never sewers. Though Hugo didn't seem phased by it, instead keeping quiet and trekking through the sewer. As they made their way through, Trench could make out voices in the distance. He looked beyond Hugo and could see a light beginning to get bigger as they drew closer. Trench had looked forward to meeting this resistance leader Hugo had spoke about.

"Just a little longer," Hugo spoke the first words he had spoken since entering the sewer. The voices had slowly gotten louder, and soon they had finally gotten to the exit of the sewer. It was a sewer grate that Hugo placed both of his hands on, pushing it forward leading it to swing open like a gate. Sliding out of the sewer, Hugo and Trench were met with four people. "Trench, meet the resistance."

Trench looked at the four. He was confused, expecting more people. Trench then finally spoke, "You said there were twenty people, I count four."

"Well, we started with twenty… Then over the months people were killed, people left. It's kind of hard to intimidate people with our resistance when there are only six of us," Hugo responded, turning his view to the four that stood before him. He pointed at the one furthest to the left. He was a tall boy, looked around seventeen. He had goggles resting on his head, with a scar leading diagonally across his right eye. He had black hair reaching down to his shoulders, which Trench thought to be disgusting. The tall boy wore a long-sleeved blue shirt with it's collar popped up. The shirt was tucked into black pants that had been covered in mud stains and dirt. Trench looked down and saw the boy was wearing no shoes or socks, instead just revealing his scratched and bruised feet. "This is Suldal, his father was a smuggler and blockade runner. Made riches but ended up getting killed by the empire. Our only pilot."

Trench nodded to Suldal, then moving his view to the person next to him. She was the shortest of the four, standing at about the same height as Hugo. She had long brown hair that went down to her back, and her green eyes sparkled in the light. She seemed to be about sixteen years old. She wore a black cloak that concealed her upper body. Fangs and other jewelry hung from necklaces outside of her cloak. Her legs were dressed in brown pants that were skin tight, tucked into brown boots that went up to her shin. Hugo introduced her, "This is Ava, she doesn't do much speaking. Though she's deadly with a blaster, she's proved that to us a few times. Now, this is Benji," Hugo pointed at the boy next to her.

He was an average height, between Ava and Suldal. He had dark skin, and a short, black mohawk resting atop his head, looking around seventeen. His brown eyes looked deep into Trench's soul. He had a defined jawline that every man desired, though Trench could have cared less. He wore a white shirt under a black jacket that had been torn and ripped all over. Pockets lined the sleeves, as well as one being placed on the front of the jacket. His legs had been dressed in black cargo pants that had the bottom of the pant legs hanging over his black boots. Hugo then spoke, "He's one of the best resistance fighters in the galaxy, captured an entire Imperial outpost nearby on his own."

Next was a girl, almost as tall as Suldal. She had long blonde hair tied in a large braid going down her back. She had green eyes and a heart-shaped face, looked around fifteen. She wore a dark gray cloak that covered her upper body, the same style as Ava's. Dark green pants covered her lower body, tucked into knee-high brown boots. She seemed out of place in the resistance, though she had made it this far. "And this is Corinna. Her father was a resistance fighter with us, but he… Well he passed."

The four that stood in front of Trench were not what he expected. He folded his arms, though raising one to stroke his chin. Not a single one seemed to be over eighteen, which definitely made Trench bitter. He had never been very fond of children or teenagers, believed them to be trouble. He finally spoke, "Which one of you is the leader?"

"That would be me!" a feminine voice shouted, though none of the four's mouths had moved. Though within a second, a figure dropped down from the ceiling and landed directly in front of Trench. She had brown hair that was tied into a ponytail, hanging behind her head. She had blue eyes that had been the witness to many horrors throughout her childhood. She wore a brown long-sleeved shirt with a black vest worn over it. Below her waist were dark green pants that were held up by a black belt, an empty blaster holster being clipped onto the side of it. The bottoms of her dark green pants hung over torn and ripped black boots. "The name's Voba, Voba Star. Been leadin' this thing since the start. And I take it you are Alpha-53?"

"Trench, call me Trench," he said, reaching his hand out to shake Voba's hand. She seemed to be the oldest one out of the resistance fighters, maybe nineteen. Voba stuck out her hand and grasped Trench's, shaking it as a sign of greeting.

"So, I don't think you've come to join the resistance. Why do you need our services?" questioned Voba, trying to get straight to the point. Trench grinned, placing his hands behind his back. His sniper rifle had hung across his back on it's sling that he had placed on it after deserting.

"Transportation. Empire seems to have found me, and I need to leave this planet before I get captured," Trench replied, looking at Suldal. Trench knew how to fly but he was terrible at it, almost crashed the gunship when he was landing. So he had preferred to find someone who could fly him out in a ship that wouldn't cause as much concern as a republic gunship. Voba looked Trench up and down, admiring the man's armor.

"We'd love to help a man like you, y'see, we really would. Though our ship, the Halina, has been out of fuel for weeks. And the only place that has fuel right now is an imperial outpost outside of the city. You see our dilemma, right Mr. Trench?" questioned Voba, putting her hands on her hips. "Now, if you'd like to help us with getting that fuel from the outpost, I'm sure we can help you with getting to wherever you're wanting to go."

Trench knew he was going to have to help the resistance in some way, though he didn't expect it to be soon. He looked over the resistance fighters, knowing that each of them had a story about why they were there. Trench looked down at his feet and then back to Voba with his answer, "Let's do it."


	5. Chapter 4

"Quite an office," Trench stated, looking around the cramped room. He had sat on a box placed on the floor, directly in front of a wooden table that had drawings all over the surface. Behind the table sat Voba, she sat on a wooden stool that sat directly in front of bookshelves occupied by cobwebs and dust. Behind Trench was a pile of books and antiques that most likely sat on the bookshelves behind Voba. She looked at him with a grin on her face, her fingers interlocked on the table surface.

"Indeed," she spoke, "anyways, on to the task at hand. The imperial outpost is located on the border of the city, opposite to the location of your gunship. No fortified walls around it, though stormtrooper patrols twenty-four seven. Fuel storage located next to the landing pad which is closest to the city, good for us. Good coverage of the outpost from a mountain near it, that's where you come in. Hop up, get a good vantage point, and then radio us that you're ready. Then we'll head in and you cover us as we get to the fuel."

For being the leader of a ragtag resistance group, she knew what she was talking about. Trench sat straight up as if he was being interviewed. His rifle was lying on the ground between his box and the table, his feet resting on it. Trench then spoke, "Alright, seems easy enough. How many stormtroopers are located at this outpost?"

"Due to our sloppy moves these last few attempts at taking out stormtrooper patrols in the area, the stormtrooper numbers have increased and I'm sure you can attest to that. So at the outpost, maybe a division from what we've counted from scouting," Voba spotting, seeming to get a bit nervous. Trench looked into the corner of the room, left of the bookshelf, and noticed a DC-15A blaster rifle, which was used by the Advanced Recon Commandos during the Clone Wars. He hadn't seen one in ages.

"Hm, interesting. Say, where'd you get that?" said Trench, nodding towards the rifle in the corner. Voba rotated herself around on her stool, looking at the rifle. She grinned as she looked at the rifle, and then turned back to Trench.

"Picked it up off of an auction, guy said that it was used by clone troopers. What better to use when you're fighting the empire," she said, letting out a laugh. Trench knew how much damage the weapon could cause, he had seen it firsthand.

"Glad to have it on our side, can definitely do some damage," he replied, returning his view to Voba. "What does the resistance arsenal here look like besides that?"

She stood up from her seat, looking at the exit of the room: A doorway with no door. She then looked at Trench who also stood up, though Voba spoke, "Come and see."

Voba walked out of the room first, then Trench followed. They had entered the main room that Trench had first come into. The ceiling was covered in tiles and a single light that had been hung from the middle. They walked across the room, passing chairs and piles of garbage. Directly across from Voba's office was another doorway with no door. That was where they were headed, and Voba walked in first. As Trench followed, he found himself in the arsenal room. Lining the walls were racks that carried blaster rifles, blaster pistols, and even blaster cannons. Below the racks were big carts full of ammunition. It was a war monger's dream. Trench looked around in awe and then spoke, "How did you get your hands on all of this."

"Well it wasn't us, before it was an underground pirate hideout that they had stashed all their stuff they couldn't carry on the ships. But then once the empire took over, the pirates got trashed and we moved in," Voba answered, revealing the arsenal's past. Had the empire found out about the hideout before Voba's resistance did, the resistance wouldn't be as effective. Trench walked up and down the hall, guns and carts on both sides.

"What about that ship you were talking about? Where abouts is that?" asked Trench, looking at Voba. She looked towards the end of the hallway, beyond Trench. A door stood from the ground up to the ceiling with a wheel in front of it.

"There," she said, walking past Trench and towards the door. She stood in front of the door, placing her hands on the cold metal. Turning her head, she looked at Trench for a quick second and then returned her focus to the door. She moved her hands towards the wheel, grasping on to it and turning it to the left. With a sudden release of pressure from the door, she pushed it open. Walking inside, following behind Voba, he found himself entering a large rectangular room. In front of him sat a disc-shaped piece of metal with a rectangular box sticking out towards Trench. "Her name is the Halina."

"Seems like she's gone through a lot," Trench said, advancing towards the ship. There were support legs underneath the ship, preventing it from rolling. Parts of the ship had been painted green, some brown stripes as well. Scrapes covered the ship from bottom to top, almost blending in.

"Been in a bunch of fights with the empire, survived each one. Taken down a few TIE fighters too," boasted Voba, accompanying Trench to the ship. As she reached the rectangular box sticking out, she put her hand on the ship and tapped it with her fingers.

"Think she can get me to Saleucami?" asked Trench, looking at the ship and then to Voba. He had heard about the planet from another clone trooper when he was serving under the Republic. It had sounded like a dream place to settle down in, and it was where he originally had wanted to desert to. Though due to poor locating and calculating, he could only make it to Cantonica.

"What would you want to go there for?" asked Voba, shooting a curious look to Trench. He turned back to the ship, inspecting it up and down.

"Heard good things about the place, a good place to settle down. Trying to find somewhere that I won't be bothered," Trench said grinning.

"Well, I wish you the best of luck with that," Voba said, looked towards the open doorway that they had just walked through. Benji stood in the doorway, his eyes set on Voba. He held a blaster rifle in his hands, the barrel facing the floor. Trench's eyes drew to Benji as well, who nodded to Trench.

"My apologies to interrupt, Commander. We're all equipped and prepared for deployment, should we wait on standby?" asked Benji, standing straight as if he was at attention. Trench looked at Voba who grinned, most likely from being addressed as commander. Trench saw a good leader inside of Voba, he had just wished she had gotten the chance on a larger scale and not stuck leading only five people. His eyes shifted back to Benji, who was still waiting at attention.

"Wait on standby in the main room," replied Voba, putting her hands behind her back. She too stood at attention, staring at Benji. He nodded at her, turning around and walking away from the doorway. Trench returned his eyes to Voba who was no longer standing at attention, instead she stood relaxed and at ease. "Best if I go retrieve my blaster pistol for my holster here," Voba said, patting her empty holster that sat on her hip. She began walking towards the door, Trench hesitating at first. He once more looked at the ship, admiring the fact it may be his ticket out of this place. Though in order to not fall behind, he swung back around and jogged to Voba to catch up.

Once both of them were out of the room, Trench stood back as Voba grabbed onto the wheel of the door. Pulling it towards her, it fit right into the doorway. Turning it to the right, she locked it and then turned to Trench. Walking past him, she stopped shortly before reaching the exit of the room. She turned to face the wall, grabbing a blaster pistol off of the wall. Before she slipped it into her holster, she held it in her palms and admired the pistol. "It's gotten me through some rough times," mentioned Voba, a grin on her face.

She slipped the blaster pistol into her holster, and walked out to the main room. With Trench following behind, they saw the five resistance fighters standing in the middle of the room. They all were equipped with blaster rifles, either hung on their backs with a sling or held in their hands. Voba spoke, "Seems the gang's all here. Alright, listen up!" Everyone began to gather around her, focusing on what she said. "You know the drill. Our special guest, Trench, here will be providing us sniper support while we launch our attack on the fuel storage. Luckily for us we can…" But before she finished her sentence, loud footsteps began to come from the sewer.

She stopped speaking and put her hand on her blaster pistol, ready to take it out of it's holster at any time. Everyone turned around, raising their blasters and aiming at the sewer. Trench too raised his rifle to face the sewer, reading to pull the trigger on anyone or anything that came through. As the footsteps drew closer, voices began to appear. Suddenly a figure jumped out from the drain, followed by three more. "Halt!" shouted Voba, finally unholstering her blaster pistol and aiming it at the four figures that just fell out of the drain. One stood up, and Trench immediately recognized him.

"Ferdev?"


End file.
